HAVE SOME MADERA, M’DEAR Story and photos by John Blanchette Quiet lanes flow through the Madera Wine Trail It was the July 4th weekend and I was headed into the Central Valley to visit Madera County and one of California’s oldest wine growing areas. The San Joaquin Valley can be blistering hot this time of year and I certainly wasn’t disappointed. Temperatures soared to 105 degrees. As my car drove on Route 99, slicing through this wide, flat and fertile plane that stretches over 200 miles between Bakersfield and Stockton, crops and livestock passed my window like an expanded grocery market. Table grapes, sugar cane, corn, tomatoes, citrus, peaches, plums, apricots, strawberries, watermelons, pistachio, pecan, Cattle range in the shadow of Giant Eucalyptus www.aiwf.org SAVOR THIS • OCTOBER 2010 15 almond, pomegranate and walnut trees, pigs, cattle, sheep, and dairy cows, etc. in abundance. One farmer told me that the topsoil is unlimited and all they need is water to grow their crops. And that’s a major problem. The current draught has caused some farmers to let their fields go fallow. The city of Madera, located 38 miles from the geographic center of California, derives its name from the Spanish word for wood, which was harvested in the Yosemite Valley foothills and shipped from Madera to build San Francisco and other area communities in the 1800s. The Madeira wine produced on the Portuguese Vineyards run to the mountains island made famous by the bawdy English tune I was off to confirm this as I explored the Madera “Have Some Madeira, m’Dear” is just a coincidence. Wine Trail, composed of 12 wineries that I visited However, the area does make some of the best over the weekend. Most have tasting rooms and only fortified, sweet and port wines in the world. Chateau Lasgoity has a fee ($5 applied to purchase). First stop was Quady Winery. I have a history with Quady. Back in 1982 at a dinner party in San Francisco I tasted my first great dessert wine and it was Essensia by Quady, made of Orange Muscat grapes. The golden-orange color swirled in my glass as I tasted the nectar of apricots and oranges. The scent and flavor returned like Proust’s madeleines, as I drove through a lane bordered by Orange Muscat grapes, up to Quady’s tasting room to meet the man who had opened my eyes to great sweet wines, Andrew Quady and his wife Laurel. After genuflecting, I went through a full tasting, from the sweet and dry vermouth Vya, the sherry Quiet rural setting reflects two centuries of farming Palomino Fino, the table wines of Viognier and The 1800s was also the time when immigrants from Visao, Deviation, which infuses scented Geraniums Italy, France, Spain, Armenia, which has it’s largest American population located in the Central Valley, came to farm and raise crops, especially wine. Before the turn of the 20th Century wines from Madera County were shipped worldwide. During prohibition the area shifted to producing raisins and table grapes and many wine vines were replaced. After prohibition wine returned, but in bulk form. Swiss from Ticino established Italian Swiss Colony and other bulk producers like Gallo, Boone’s Farm and Paul Masson gathered grapes form the area. It is only within the last 35 years that world-class wines have again been produced on the County’s vines. Along the quiet lanes of Madera Wine Trail 16 SAVOR THIS • OCTOBER 2010 www.aiwf.org Orange Muscat grapes bunch in the warm July air into Essensia adding a honeysuckle/rose element to which does some excellent port-style wines. Wine the wine, and my favorites, the dessert and after maker Peter Ficklin poured me his 20-year-old Tawny dinner drinks. Port that was full of fig and raisin flavors. They make a black Muscat wine called Elysium, Further north in the Central Sierra Nevada foothills several port-style wines they whimsically call at an elevation of 1,800 feet, I met with Ray Krause Starboard, and the light alcohol Muscat blends of of Westbrook Wine Farm, one of the pioneers in the Electra. The wine called Purple is sinful and tastes area. He was in the first Oenology class at Fresno like liquefied grape Jolly Ranchers. State and began making wine in 1964. He makes some beautiful Bordeaux-style wines, a fruity and They invited me to dinner at their home next to the crisp Viognier and nice dry Riesling. But his 2007 winery and we sat al fresco on their patio Petite Sirah stole my heart, and it was still in the overlooking the vineyard, sipping their wines and barrel! You must make the pilgrimage to O’Neals, the prize-winning Quady North vintages produced CA and make an appointment to taste and by their son Herb in Oregon, as the early evening purchase this gem. breezes brought relief from the warm day. Even further north, near Lake Bass and about 15 This is what is unique about the Madera Wine Trail. miles from Yosemite is the Idle Hour Winery at the You meet the owners and growers and they have Queens Inn. The tasting room and vineyard are run time to socialize and introduce you to their family by Anna Marie dos Remedios and Deb Payne. The and their wines. Inn also offers a beer garden for those who want a Other stops along the trail included Ficklin Vineyards, break from wine. www.aiwf.org SAVOR THIS • OCTOBER 2010 17 Winemaker Ray Krause is one of the pioneers of the new world-class grape plantings in Madera Birdstone Winery owners Tony and Kimberly Kirk Everything here is elegant including the food are native Maderans and became interested in the prepared by chef Karsten Hart. My heart has a soft wine business while students at Fresno State, going spot for elderberries. My grandfather was French on to study at Davis and Cal Poly. Their tasting room and refused to eat dinner without a glass of wine. is in Madera. Try the Chardonnay. He arrived in Boston during Prohibition and began making his own wine and continued doing so his Other vineyards on the wine trail include Mariposa whole life. As a young boy I can remember picking Wine Company, Pacific Crest, Golden Valley Wine, wild elderberries till my hands (and mouth) were Oak Hollow Winery and San Joaquin Wine Company, all in Madera and Vineyard 208, which is blue, providing fruit for his sweet port-like wine, near Westbrook. smelling of blueberries and black Muscat grapes. Chef Hart makes good use of the elderberries IF YOU GO: grown on the property, incorporating them in his There are two excellent restaurants in the area. Chris meat sauces and desserts. Try to make it to an Mariscotti, owner of The Vineyard Restaurant & Bar Elderberry Harvest Dinner this summer, but call for in Madera is a fountain of information on area wines reservations, 559-683-6800 and ask for the and vineyards. He’s been open for 31 years. delightful manager, Deja Marrone. The comfortable restaurant is dedicated to wine Other places to stay include the Springhill Suites and features old kegs, a wood-beamed interior and Marriott, Holiday Inn Express and the Hampton Inn, grape vines growing on the roof. On the day I all in Madera. visited several vintners and local agricultural people For information on the Madera Wine Trail and Madera were enjoying the menu, which features steaks, County contact KC Pomering at 800-613-0709, ribs, pastas, fish, homemade breads, award- www.maderavintners.com. All other information is winning desserts, and wine by the glass. available online. Anyone for some Madera, m’dears? The other great restaurant is 30 minutes from Yosemite in the town of Oakhurst, the five-star John Blanchette is a freelance Relais & Chateaux Estate by the Elderberries. This travel writer, television is a spectacular inn, spa and restaurant with only 12 producer and owns a public rooms. Owner Erna Kubin-Clanin has given her relations company in Santa name to the restaurant, Erna’s Elderberry House. Monica, California. 18 SAVOR THIS • OCTOBER 2010 www.aiwf.org.